For all his bombast, Trump is plummeting – financially, legally, and politically. These days, he is not looking like the “winner” he needs voters to believe him to be. His lead in the polls evaporates while his cash stash shrinks.
By ⁦Lloyd Green⁩ theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Germany eases gender change rules, over-18s can change every 12 months to male, female, or diverse just declaring it, or make their gender not registered at all. Applications made less than 2 months prior to a national defence emergency will be put on hold bbc.com/news/world-eur…

Europe’s farmers are in revolt about high costs and low prices, about the prospect of free trade deals, about the constraints of climate regulations. The far right is trying to make hay washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/…

Mali's military dictatorship bans all activities of political parties and orders 'all media–radio, TV, written press, online–to halt broadcast and publication of the activities of political parties and the activities of a political nature of associations' dw.com/en/mali-junta-…

The end of secular India — BJP's goal isn't just to win elections. It aims to restructure the Indian state as a Hindu nation, to put Hinduism at the center of public life, make full Indian citizenship contingent on being Hindu
By ⁦Hartosh Singh Bal⁩ foreignaffairs.com/india/end-secu…

Japan’s native population declines at record rate as births plunge in the 13th consecutive year of decline. The number of Japanese nationals dropped by the biggest amount since records began in 1950 — a fall of 837,000 in a year, almost 100 people an hour ft.com/content/21b8a0…

Russia's strategic objective this year may not even be territorial. It could simply be to crush Ukraine's fighting spirit and convince its Western backers that this war is a lost cause, to try to generate a sense of hopelessness bbc.com/news/world-eur…

Germany eases gender change rules, over-18s can change every 12 months to male, female, or diverse just declaring it, or make their gender not registered at all. Applications made less than 2 months prior to a national defence emergency will be put on hold bbc.com/news/world-eur…

When it comes to Trump, House Republicans do a convincing pantomime of love, parrot his lies, launder his misdeeds, speak and vote in line with his desires. But there’s heartache underneath. Misery, even. That’s the moral of their 2024 exodus from Congress nytimes.com/2024/04/11/opi…

Republicans packed state supreme courts. Now they're reaping the consequences of leaving abortion rights in their hands, remolded in an even more extreme conservative direction — one that is now inflicting untold political damage on the party washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/…

Russia sends has sent military personnel and trainers to Niger to install air defense systems and train soldiers as it seeks to build stronger ties with several African nations ruled by military juntas such as Mali and Burkina Faso dw.com/en/russia-send…

Flat whites are Australia’s greatest culinary export — 2 shots of espresso with between 140 and 180 millilitres of gently steamed milk and a sliver of “microfoam”. Punchy and a little sweet: less milky than a latte and not as frothy as a cappuccino economist.com/culture/2024/0…

Iran has fostered armed groups over the past 45 years by seeking out disempowered Shiite populations to train and arm them. Now, spurred by the war in Gaza, they all have mobilized toward similar goals: diminishing Israeli power and confronting US nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Hong Kong: First European citizen jailed under the China-imposed National Security Law. He was arrested for having posted pro-independence content on social media, convicted of 'secession' and sentenced to 5 years in jail bbc.com/news/articles/…

A ritualized form of homicidal ligature strangulation shaped Early and Middle Neolithic across Central and Southern Europe. The first occurrence dates back to the Mesolithic. From Central Europe's Early Neolithic the practice expands, spanning 2,000 years
science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

China alone accounted for 2/3 of the world’s newly operating coal plants last year. Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and South Korea also inaugurated new plants. China accounts for 60% of the world’s coal use, followed by India and US nytimes.com/2024/04/10/cli…

In Russia but also China, India and across the global south, if Ukraine loses its backers would be dismissed as lacking what it takes to stand up for their interests, good at tabling resolutions and haggling over wording at summits but not much else economist.com/europe/2024/04…

Bees, like humans, can preserve cultural traditions and are capable of building according to different architectural styles which are then handed down over generations economist.com/science-and-te…

House Republicans are commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day by betraying an embattled friendly democracy to a dictator's aggression.

Japan’s native population declines at record rate as births plunge in the 13th consecutive year of decline. The number of Japanese nationals dropped by the biggest amount since records began in 1950 — a fall of 837,000 in a year, almost 100 people an hour ft.com/content/21b8a0…